CONSCIOUSNESS CHRONICLES 4

SUMMARY

The Chronicles changes format to "live" interviews for the 4th edition, which were recorded at the 20th anniversary of Toward a Science of Consciousness conference in Tucson, AZ.

Topics include a comprehensive overview of current consciousness theory, including the latest on David Chalmers' now famous "hard problem," a look at some intriguing anomalies in presentiment research, what neuroscience is learning from blindsight, what we can learn about consciousness from anesthesiology, Donald Hoffman's exciting new Interface Theory and Wai Tsang's Fractal Brain Theory.

This three-disc DVD set also include a one-hour exclusive interview with renowned mathematical physicist Sir Roger Penrose, author of The Emperor's New Mind and The Road to Reality.

PREVIEWS

David Chalmers is an Australian philosopher and cognitive scientist specializing in the area of philosophy of mind and philosophy of language. He is Professor of Philosophy and Director of the Centre for Consciousness at the Australian National University. He is also Professor of Philosophy at New York University.[2] In 2013, he was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences. David is best known for coining the phrase "the hard problem" of consciousness.

Deepak Chopra, MD is the founder and chairman of the Chopra Foundation, and founder and co-chairman of the Chopra Center for Wellbeing and Gallup Senior Scientist. Chopra is known as a prolific author of over fifty-five books with eighteen New York Times best sellers on mind-body health, quantum mechanics, spirituality, and peace. Time Magazine heralds Deepak Chopra as one of the top 100 heroes and icons of the century, and credits him as “the poet-prophet of alternative medicine.”

Sir Roger Penrose is the Emeritus Rouse Ball Professor of Mathematics at the Mathematical Institute of the University of Oxford, as well as an Emeritus Fellow of Wadham College.

Dr. Stuart Hameroff is an anesthesiologist and professor at the University of Arizona known for his studies of consciousness. Department of Anesthesiology and Psychology and associate director for the Center for Consciousness Studies, Tucson.

Rebecca Goldstein studied philosophy at Barnard and then earned her Ph.D. in philosophy at Princeton University. She has written several books, won a MacArthur “Genius Award” in 1996, and taught at several universities, including Barnard, Columbia, Rutgers, and Brandeis.

Julia Mossbridge holds a Ph.D. in Communication Sciences and Disorders from Northwestern University. Her M.A. in Neuroscience is from the University of California at San Francisco, and she received her B.A. with highest honors in neuroscience from Oberlin College. Dr. Mossbridge is also the author of Unfolding: The Perpetual Science of Your Soul's Work (New World Library, 2002). In addition to continuing to pursue her research interests and support Mossbridge Institute, she is currently co-authoring a book, Transcendent Mind: Re-thinking the Science of Consciousness.

Daniel Dennett is an American philosopher, writer, and cognitive scientist whose research centers on the philosophy of mind, philosophy of science, and philosophy of biology, particularly as those fields related to evolutionary biology and cognitive science.

He is currently the co-director of the Center for Cognitive Studies, the Austin B. Fletcher Professor of Philosophy, and a University Professor at Tufts University.

Donald Hoffman is a cognitive scientist and author of more than 90 scientific papers and three books, including Visual Intelligence: How We Create What We See (W.W. Norton, 2000). He received his BA from UCLA in Quantitative Psychology and his Ph.D. from MIT in Computational Psychology. He joined the faculty of UC Irvine in 1983, where he is now a full professor in the departments of cognitive science, computer science and philosophy.

Anirban Bandyopadhyay is a Senior Scientist in the National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS), Tsukuba, Japan, currently a visiting professor in MIT, USA. He did his PhD from Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science (IACS), Kolkata 2004-2005, where he worked on supramolecular electronics and multi-level switching. During 2005-2008 worked as Independent Researcher, called ICYS Research Fellow in the International Center for Young Scientists (ICYS), NIMS, Japan, worked on brain-like bio-processor building. In 2007, he started as permanent Scientist in NIMS.

Christof Koch is an American neuroscientist best known for his work on the neural bases of consciousness. He is the President and Chief Scientific Officer of the Allen Institute for Brain Science in Seattle. From 1986 until 2013, he was a professor at the California Institute of Technology. He is co-author of Integrated Information Theory with Giulio Tonini.

Sue Blackmore is a freelance writer, lecturer and broadcaster, and a Visiting Professor at the University of Plymouth. She has a degree in psychology and physiology from Oxford University (1973) an MSc and a PhD in parapsychology from the University of Surrey (1980). She no longer works on the paranormal. Her research interests include memes, evolutionary theory, consciousness, and meditation. She practices Zen, campaigns for drug legalization and plays in her village samba band, Crooked Tempo.

Dr. George Mashour is currently the Bert N. La Du Professor and Associate Chair for Research in the Department of Anesthesiology at the University of Michigan. Mashour is also Director of the Center for Consciousness Science, Interim Director of the Michigan Institute for Clinical & Health Research (MICHR) and Interim Associate Dean for Clinical and Translational Research. His primary clinical interest is neurosurgical anesthesiology and critical care; his scholarly interest is in the mechanisms and monitoring of consciousness.

Petra Stoerig, PhD is Chair of Experimental Biological Psychology at Heinrich-Heine-University Duesseldorf. Her scientific interests include visual and crossmodal processes in the context of synaesthesia, sensory substitution, blindsight, and rehabilitation, as well as self-related processes.

Paavo Pylkkanen is a Finnish philosopher of mind. He is an Associate Professor of Philosophy at Skövde University College and a university lecturer in theoretical philosophy at the University of Helsinki. He is known for his work on mind-body studies, building on David Bohm's interpretation of quantum mechanics, in particular Bohm's view of the cosmos as an enfolding and unfolding whole including mind and matter.

Wai Tsang is an author, public speaker and creator of fractal brain theory. He lives in London. Wai writes: "The truth that is the key to unifying all the Worlds Religions and the truth that is the necessary assumption that enables the final unification of Science with Religion. Also the Truth that holds the answers to the biggest questions in life such as, 'Who am I?', 'Why am I here?', 'What happens when I die?' and 'Is there a God and what is my relationship to God?'"